ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I Requests Prosecutor Reexamine Decision to not Investigate Gaza Flotilla Raid (July 16, 2015) [1]
On July 16, 2015, the Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court (the Court) granted [3] Comoros’ request that the Court review the Prosecutor’s decision not to investigate the Israeli Armed Forces attack against a humanitarian aid flotilla in 2010. The case stemmed from a referral by Comoros in 2013 requesting that the Prosecutor consider attacks by the Israeli Army on “other flotilla vessels bearing State party flags in addition to the Mavi Marmara [registered in the Comoros]” bound for Gaza Strip on a humanitarian mission. According to the press release [4], the Prosecutor announced in November 2014 that her office was closing the preliminary examination “because legal requirements of the Rome Statute to proceed with an investigation had not been met, since the potential case(s) likely arising from an investigation into this incident would not be of ‘sufficient gravity’ to justify further action by the ICC.” In its recent decision to reexamine the decision, the Court “stated that the Prosecutor committed material errors in her determination of the gravity of the potential case(s). In particular, the Chamber identified material errors in the Prosecutor's assessment of the possibility to prosecute those persons who may bear the greatest responsibility for the identified crimes committed during the seizure of the Mavi Marmara, as well as of the scale, nature, manner of commission and impact of the potential crimes.”